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Fletcher,” her mother insisted. “And if that old skinflint ripped you off, I’ll personally drive down to the clinic and—”
    â€œHey, slow down.” Once her mother got going, she was like a freight train gathering steam. “Believe me, he didn’t rip me off.” Picking up her glass, she leaned against the windowsill and felt the slight breeze creep past the old gingham curtains as she sipped. The tea was cool as it slid down her throat. “Actually, I think he was relieved I was interested. It’s a good deal.”
    â€œI’m just glad you’re back.” But her smile gave way. “I hope you didn’t feel obligated—” she motioned to the hated cane “—because of the stroke.”
    â€œOf course not.” Skye shook her head. “I came back because I wanted to. I was tired of the city.”
    Her mother’s graying brows lifted suspiciously. “What about all your declarations about never living here again?”
    â€œI was a kid. And I was wrong.”
    Her mother glanced nervously at her hands. “You heard about Jonah?”
    Blowing a stray strand of hair off her face, Skye nodded, though she didn’t want to think about Max’s manipulative father and the role Jonah P. McKee had played in her life. His had been much too large a role.
    â€œVirginia’s stirring up trouble. Claims he was murdered.”
    â€œMurdered?” Skye repeated.
    â€œI know it sounds crazy, but she’s hired a private investigator and insists that Sheriff Polk’s involved in some cover-up or conspiracy or the like.”
    â€œThat’s insane.”
    â€œTell it to Virginia.”
    â€œAll her kids think she’s gone off her rocker, but she’s standing firm, even called a reporter for The Rimrock Review. Oh, Lordy, poor old Jonah will never rest in peace.”
    Skye bit the words that seemed destined to roll off her tongue. Jonah was dead. She was sorry that Max had lost his father, Virginia had lost her husband, and Hillary had lost her grandfather, but if she was honest with herself, she didn’t feel a speck of grief for a man who had manipulated people and played with their lives, all for the love of the almighty buck.
    It was ironic, she supposed, that she was back in town so soon after his death. It looked as if she’d been waiting for him to find a way to escape Rimrock. But the truth of the matter was that now was the most convenient time for her to return.
    â€œHe was a good man,” Irene said, apparently reading her mind.
    Skye couldn’t let it rest. “He wasn’t good, Mom. Not by any stretch of the imagination.”
    Irene’s jaw tightened and her chin set stubbornly. “And where would we all be without him, hmm? When your father died and left us without a dime—no insurance whatsoever—what would we have done without Jonah’s help? He gave me a job, a damned good job, and I was able to raise you and your sister decently. We never went hungry, now did we?”
    â€œNo, Mom, we didn’t. Maybe we shouldn’t discuss this right now—”
    â€œAnd when I had to go to the hospital for that operation, didn’t he see that all my bills were paid and the payments on the house kept up?”
    â€œYes, Mom—”
    â€œSo don’t you go bad-mouthing him, Skye. You may be some fancy doctor nowadays, but you’re still my daughter, and I won’t have you or anyone else spreading bad words about the dead. Especially about a man who did us nothing but favors!”
    Skye settled back against her chair and drained her glass. She thought about telling her mother the truth about all the reasons she’d left Rimrock so suddenly, but she hated to disillusion a woman who had done nothing but struggle to survive, who had given up her own youth so that her daughters could live better lives than she. For years, Skye had suspected that her